


Smile

by koalathebear



Series: Pitch Missing Scenes: Conversations Unsaid [4]
Category: Pitch (TV 2016)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 13:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8534611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalathebear/pseuds/koalathebear
Summary: Set after episode 1.06 "Wear It".  I know Mike didn't get to see Ginny's breakdown in the bathroom - but I liked the idea of seeing his reaction when he found out about it.





	

_"I don't want to go back … I don't want to go back … I don't want to... I just don't want to do it anymore. I just don't... I don't want to, like... I don't want to take secret exits. I don't want to give careful quotes. I don't want to... I don't want to smile when I don't want to smile…"_  
\- Ginny Baker (gifset [here](http://oilversqueen.tumblr.com/post/152712161751/i-dont-want-to-go-back-i-dont-want-to-i-just))

*

Mike rose to his feet amidst the flash of cameras and the barrage of questions. "Hey – I'm done my part guys – over to Ginny," he told them with a careless and easy smile. 

"One more question, Mike!"

"But Mike - !"

"See y'all later," he told them firmly and started to walk towards the door past Ginny who was entering the room, Amelia and Eliot in tow.

Amelia's face was grim and impassive, angles and pinched tension her demeanour exuded a decidedly unwelcoming air. Eliot gave him his usual wry smile as Ginny walked past Mike without even glancing at him. Mike resisted the urge to sigh. The cold shoulder treatment was starting to get kind of old.

He decided not to leave the room, turning to watch and listen to Ginny handle the tumult of questions. Her face was shiny with perspiration, her slender frame tense as her full mouth pulled into smile after smile that never reached her eyes.

He heard her give a brittle laugh, turn her head to pose with a smile for the camera as she answered the questions calmly and with great poise. Amelia had trained her well but he could see the act for what it was – an act. It was almost painful seeing the way she kept smiling, nodding with feigned ease and lightness as she responded to the jokes, the questions and endless probing.

"I was just checking if Nike was paying attention," Ginny replied.

There it was again. That brief, practised smile that curved her lips but never reached her eyes, the careless shrug of her shoulders and the way she tossed her pony tail back…

*

He found her later, practising alone in the pitching cages in one of Petco's training rooms. They had often practised together in the past – not of late, though. Not since she had found out that he and Amelia had been sleeping together. He could understand her discomfort – each of Mike and Amelia knew the side of Ginny Baker that she chose to share with that person. Knowing that they were together would have been unsettling – making her wonder if they had spoken of her, shared secrets and deconstructed her very soul.

"Hey," he greeted her from the doorway.

"Hey," she replied coolly, warily.

"You handled the press conference well," he complimented her.

She shrugged, both accepting and dismissing his praise at the same time.

"But?" she questioned, her voice calm and expressionless.

"We all put on an act in front of the media … they're fucking bloodsuckers … but you don't have to smile at them if you don't feel like it."

Her head snapped around, her eyes wide and tortured as if she'd been slapped.

" _What_ did you say?" she demanded hoarsely, her dark eyes looking angry… betrayed … devastated even.

Mike looked confused and held his hands up. "I was just saying, we all put on a performance, but if you don't feel like smiling, you can just tell them you were having a shit day … a shit game …they get that. You don't always have to be the perfect role model to all those little girls – I mean it's probably good for them to know that everyone has a bad day now and then …"

She continued to stare at him warily and he exhaled slowly. "OK … maybe I was out of line … just forget I said anything …"

"No … no it's not you," she muttered, shaking her head. "I just thought … just assumed – never mind," she trailed off

He frowned. "Something I should know about?"

"No," she told him emphatically and then hesitated. He watched as she walked over to her backpack to get her cell phone. When she walked back to him, she swiped her thumb across the phone to unlock the screen. He watched as she scrolled through … clicked and then handed him her cell.

"Gonna shower and change," she told him and walked off, leaving him alone with her cell. 

Puzzled, he stared down at the video, frozen on the cell's display.

*

Towelling her hair, Ginny walked back into the training room and saw Mike sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall waiting for her.

"Didn't know there was another video from that night," he remarked.

"Yeah."

"Take a seat," he told her, gesturing to the space beside him on the floor.

"I just had a shower – "

"Sit."

She dropped down beside him, leaning against the wall, leaning against him, shoulder to shoulder.

Mike's nostrils twitched appreciatively. Freshly showered, Ginny smelled of soap, shampoo and Ginny. He'd watched the video three times. Each time, the sight and sound of her falling apart had been like a fist to the gut. It had hurt more than it should have – the crumpling of her face, the break in her voice …

"They making you get help?" he asked calmly and she nodded.

"I'm seeing a shrink."

"Any good?"

She shrugged. "She's all right."

"Good."

They were silent for a long moment. The lights in the training room went out because of the lack of movement and it was Ginny who finally spoke up. 

"You're not going to say anything else? Tell me I need to talk about it? That otherwise it's going to crush me like a rock?"

"Nope."

They fell silent again. "You're not going to say anything at all?"

"It's a tough game," he told her. "No getting around that … it's hard on our bodies … our minds … our lives in general … I think all ball players have moments when we feel the same way you did in that video. Just wanna get the hell away from it all … no shame in that."

"That's your pep talk?" she asked him.

"Pretty much," he told her with a crooked smile. "It's all I got."

He got to his feet, wincing slightly with the effort. He reached down. "On your feet, I'll walk you back to your hotel."

"Amelia always has a car out front waiting for – "

"I know, we'll send him away. The walk will do us both good."

*

Mike lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of his bedroom, trying not to think of Ginny's tears … the sound of her voice and the despair …

His cell rang and he found himself smiling as he saw the name on the display.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"No … did I wake you?"

"Nope."

"I do love the game, you know …" she tried to explain.

"But sometimes you hate it."

"Yeah."

Both lay in their respective beds, their breathing the only sound over the line. "Got a song for you," he announced finally.

"I'm not in the mood for a Bon Jovi anthem, old man …" but then her voice trailed off as the music started playing … the sweet, sweet sounds of the orchestra taking her back to a time long before she'd been born.

"Nat King Cole? Seriously?" she asked him, even as she curled on her side and put the phone beside her on the pillow, listening as the smooth voice articulated every word clearly and gently…

_Smile, though your heart is aching_  
_Smile, even though it’s breaking_  
_When there are clouds in the sky you’ll get by_  
_If you smile through your fear and sorrow_  
_Smile and maybe tomorrow_  
_You’ll see the sun come shining through for you_

 _Light up your face with gladness_  
_Hide every trace of sadness_  
_Although a tear may be ever so near_  
_That’s the time you must keep on trying_  
_Smile what’s the use of crying_  
_You’ll find that life is still worthwhile_  
_If you’ll just_  
_Smile_

When the music died away, Ginny was smiling, a real smile that even Mike could sense, lying in the darkness of his own bedroom.

"You're full of surprises, sometimes…" Ginny said finally. 

"I know."

"And about you and Amelia – I was just a bit surprised .. I'll be – "

"We're not together anymore," he told her quickly and her eyes widened in shock, not knowing what to say. 

"OK I'll see you tomorrow."

"Count on it."

She fell asleep to the sound of Nat King Cole's inimitable voice.


End file.
